Last week’s 112th North American International Toy Fair—the largest toy marketplace held in the Western Hemisphere—opened its doors to nearly 25,000 global play professionals. Owned and operated by the U.S. Toy Industry Association (TIA) in partnership with the Canadian Toy Association (CTA), Toy Fair 2015 grew in size and scope over the previous year, with a record-breaking 421,300 net square feet of exhibit space filled with 1,064 exhibitors, importers, distributors, and sales agents, and hundreds of thousands of brand-new toys and games.
Buyers, exhibitors, entertainment executives, members of the press, and trade guests from across the U.S. and 91 countries made it to Manhattan’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on February 14 to 17. Due to a new cross-border affiliation agreement between TIA and CTA, Toy Fair served as a single North American marketplace event to provide U.S., Canadian, and global attendees with more targeted business development opportunities, greater efficiency, and added cost-savings, according to the TIA.
More than 9,000 mass and specialty retail buyers were in attendance, including delegations from 22 of the nation’s top toy sellers, such as Amazon, American Girl, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Costco, CVS, Disney Store, eBay, Five Below, Target, Toys “R” Us, Wal-Mart, and more. In addition, close to 5,000 unique retail outlets were represented, with first-time buyers visiting from the Northern Mariana Islands, Saint Pierre and Miqeulon, and Sri Lanka. The top five countries represented by buyers were Canada, the UK, Mexico, Japan, and Hong Kong.
There was also an increase in licensors on-site, with executives from 20th Century Fox, Disney Consumer Products, Dreamworks Animation, Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers Consumer Products, and others scouting new trends and signing licensing agreements with toymakers.
Toy Fair 2015 also welcomed a 4-percent increase in global press, with 1,033 print journalists, broadcast reporters, and bloggers at the show. Top-tier media outlets represented at Toy Fair included ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, CNN, MTV, Fox 5 News, Fox Business, Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsday, and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
All attendees were able to explore a vast array of toys and games that play a vital role in the healthy development of children, including active toys, dolls and plush, board games, e-connected toys, arts and crafts, role-play toys, and more.
